1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to Toy Figures which are manufactured from plastic material, and more specifically to such figures which are reconfigurable from a standing to a sitting position.
2. The Prior Art
Toy Figures which are reconfigurable from a standing to a sitting position are well known in the toy industry. One type of such a figure is repositionable because of its elastomaric composition, which provides sufficient resiliency to facilitate a direct bending of the figure at the midsection. When it is desirable to have a toy figure manufactured out of hard plastic material, however, resilient bending of the figure directly into a sitting position is precluded.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,706,155 demonstrates a second general approach to reconfiguring a figure from a standing to a sitting position; that is, rotating the bottom torso 180 degrees with respect to the top of the figure. As taught by the above identified patent, the figure is separated at its midsection into upper and lower torso sections. The dividing line between the upper and lower torso is a pivot plane which extends downward from the back to the front of the figure. In order to reconfigure the figure into a sitting orientation, the lower torso is rotated 180 degrees with respect to the top torso section, and thereafter the head is pivoted 180 degrees so as to resume directional conformity with the lower torso section.
While the above patented invention works well and as intended, it has several deficiencies in its manner of operation. First, the structure is such that a 180 degree pivoting of the lower torso section with respect to the upper torso section results in the bottom torso legs being directionally opposite to the orientation of the head. This inconsistency must thereafter be corrected by rotating the head 180 degrees. In order to facilitate rotation of the head, the joint between the head and the shoulders must be of a simple neck plug configuration. Stated differently, the user of such figures may at times wish to reposition the head into various attitudes and orientations, and to retain the head in such position after the figure is transformed from a sitting to standing position. However, the structure of the above identified patented invention necessitates that the head be rotated 180 degrees so as to be brought back into directional conformity with the lower torso. This necessity makes repositionment a two-step procedure. A final deficiency is that the patented article requires the upper torso to be directionally neutral, so that the upper torso and head remain consistent when the head is rotated 180 degrees. Such a restriction, however, severely limits the degree of design detail which can be incorporated into the upper torso and arms, and therefore the toy's appeal.